Like Old Times
Columbus, Ohio
11/1/04
Shane and Paul made eye contact at the realization that Shawn probably figured out the thing Vince wanted most.
"Shit… Shane… Where can we hide out tonight," Paul asked. Shane shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Paul. My dad has control of every single freaking area of this arena. We can't even hide out with Evolution." Shane replied. "What's the point of hiding," Paul, Shane and Christian turned to look at Shawn, who was leaning against the wall glaring at them. "McMahon wants a fight. Let's give him one." Shawn stated. Paul nodded his head no. "Jesus Christ, Shawn. That's the last thing we should do! We can't take on Vince McMahon. He has the whole friggin company at his fingertips. He could send everyone on us and kill all four of us. Don't you understand that?" Paul shouted as he grabbed Shawn by the shoulders and shook him back and forth, trying to further emphasize his point.
Shawn continued glaring at Paul until the younger man released the hold he had on him. "I understand it, Paul… Just ask me if I care," Shawn growled. Paul sighed and watched as Bruce Pritchard walked up to them. He tapped Shane on the shoulder and handed him a note, then walked away. Shane looked down at the piece of paper in his hand and rolled his eyes. "I know that handwriting anywhere. It's from my dad." Shane opened the note and scanned it quickly, then crumpled in his hand and slammed his fist into the wall. Paul jumped back and grabbed a hold of Shane's fist. He tried to wrestle the note out of his brother in laws hand, but he had a death grip on it. "Let me see it, Shane." Shawn stated and held out his hand.
Shane turned to look at Shawn and nodded his head no. "Never mind what the note says. All I know is that we're fucked… Okay? We're flat out fucked. Sodomized and everything," Shane replied. Paul raised an eyebrow. "Let me guess… Vince thought it would be cool if the four of us competed tonight against every big guy in the WWE in a Street Fight? Did I get it?" Paul asked. Shane looked at Paul and narrowed his eyes. "No. Not even close," He turned to look at Christian. "As of this moment, you're suspended without pay," Shane looked back at Paul and Shawn. "And you two are banned from speaking to one another until further notice… If you do, you're fired."
Shawn raised an eyebrow. "Oooooh, big bad Vincent Kennedy McMahon is writing scary hate mail. Remind me why I'm supposed to be afraid," He asked as he looked at Paul. "There's only one person who could stop this, I'm guessing?" Paul asked Shane, who nodded his head in agreement. "I have to give up my job." Shane replied, making Christian, Paul and Shawn's eyes widen. "What? Don't be stupid, kid. Fuck your old man. We'll go along with his stupid wishes as long as you don't get yourself fired." Shawn stated.
Shane sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I can't let you guys suffer because of something I pretty much started," He stated and went to turn around, however, Paul grabbed a hold of his arm and spun him back around. "This started the day your dad gave Jacobs the green light to knock Shawn into 1990. This isn't your fault in the slightest, Shane. Don't you decide to be a hero and fuck yourself over." He told Shane, who sighed and ran a hand through his hair again. "Oh God… Things are really bad… I have to stop this, Paul. Don't get involved… I'll talk to you guys later." Shane walked away from the group, avoiding eye contact with them as he did so.
Christian went to go after Shane, however, Paul and Shawn grabbed a hold of him. "Don't go after him, Jay… He's ashamed as it is…" Shawn stated. Christian looked back at Shawn, then at Paul and sighed. "I really wish he wouldn't give up his life in order to save us. I don't care about getting suspended… And I'm pretty sure you guys don't care about not talking and whatnot. Do you?" Christian asked. Paul nodded his head no. "Of course not, Jay… But that's not the point. If we kick Shane's pride, he's going to kill us… We have to let him do what he feels is right… Now, come on. Let's get into a locker room and await word from Satan himself."
Shawn, Paul and Christian walked to the D-Generation X locker room and saw a note posted on the door. It was from Vince. Shawn pulled it off and opened it. "Blah, blah, blah… Oh, interesting part… 'If you don't…' Wait no, that's irrelevant… Makes him sound like a comic book villain or something… Aha! 'Tune in to Raw to see some interesting developments between your former friend (and ally) Tyson Tomko and myself.' This guy is truly an asshole, isn't he?"
Paul nodded his head in agreement as he took the note from Shawn's hand to see what he skipped over. "You're right… He does sound like a comic book villain… Kinda like Lex Luther, actually… So I guess we have to turn the TV on and get..," Paul opened the door to the locker room and saw the furniture tossed everywhere. The only thing left standing upright was the TV. "Somebody wanted to put their point across," Christian stated as he observed the room. "Yeah, I could only imagine who would be so angry that they would put their foot through the wall." Paul stated as he observed the hole and bit his tongue to keep from laughing. Christian rolled his eyes. "You would think that Vince would be able to control the 'roid rage by now…"
Paul laughed and turned to look at Christian. "Yes, but whose 'roid rage? His or Tomko's?" He asked, making Christian laugh as well. Shawn, however, didn't find the situation funny at all. His eyes were scanning over the room like a hawk searching for its prey. Something just wasn't right. "Both, I guess… Especially if Tomko has been working with Vince all along. I can't believe I didn't catch onto that." Christian stated and nodded his head in disgust. He looked over at Shawn, who knelt down in the corner of the room. Paul followed Christian's line of view to his friend, who was curiously looking at something on the floor.
"What's the matter, Shawn," Paul asked, walking over to his best friend and kneeling down next to him. "I think this is Shane's wedding ring," Shawn stated as he picked up the small gold object and held it in his left hand for Paul to see. Paul picked it up and looked at the ring carefully. His eyes widened when he saw the tell-tale sign of who the ring belonged to. There was an inscription on the inside of the ring which read '9.14.96,' which was Shane's wedding anniversary. "You're right… This is my brother in laws ring. What the hell is it doing in here?" Paul asked as he rubbed his head and returned the ring to Shawn's hand. Shawn shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, Paul. Do you think Vince is using Shane as his lackey?"
"Well… Shane is his son, ya know. I would imagine he would do whatever is possible to keep from getting fired," Christian stated as he rubbed his head. Paul nodded his head in disagreement. "I don't agree with you on that one. Shane is doing whatever he can to keep us from losing our jobs. I don't understand why the only way to save us was for him to sacrifice his job. Vince definitely has something up his sleeve." Paul responded. Christian sighed and allowed his hand to drop back to his side. "I can agree with that. I don't see why Shane actually trusted his old man. Everyone says Shane knows him better than anyone else…"
Shawn sighed, making Christian and Paul turn to look at him at the same time. They forgot he was in the room. "It's because he's gullible sometimes and still thinks his daddy has some good in him. Sure, he shows he actually has a heart sometimes, but it never lasts for more than 3 minutes. We need to track him down and get him away from Vince. That's the only way we can handle the situation."
"You're talking crazy, Shawn. People who want to lose their jobs are the only ones who talk about doing something like that. I know things seem really fucked up right now, but we have to sit back and watch things happen… Even if Vince is planning on using Shane against us…" Paul stated. Shawn frowned. "It's just not fair."
"Nobody ever said life was fair, Shawn."
Shawn stared at Christian and Paul. "What did you just say," He asked. Christian and Paul exchanged a worried glance, then looked back at Shawn. "We didn't say anything, Shawn. Why? What's the matter?" Paul asked and took a tentative step closer to Shawn, who took a step away from him. "Nothing… Absolutely nothing… You and Jay can stay here and plot about all the ways we shouldn't be doing anything. I'm going to go see if I can find Shane." Shawn stated and started heading for the door.
"That's not very smart, Shawn."
Shawn stopped short and closed his eyes, trying to figure out if it was another memory resurfacing or if Paul or Christian had said it. "Are you okay, Shawn," Paul asked, refusing to move from his spot in the room. He didn't want to piss Shawn off and send him running from the room. The last thing they needed was to be separated at a time like this. Shawn nodded his head, refusing to look either of the two in the eyes. "I'm fine… Just… Stop talking." Shawn replied. Paul and Christian once again exchanged a worried glance. "Jay didn't say anything… And the only thing I said was 'are you okay.' Are you having a flashback or something?"
Shawn turned to face Paul and shrugged his shoulders. His eyes darted around the room somewhat nervously. "I don't know, Paul. I keep hearing a voice that isn't mine… And it's saying things that would go with our conversation..," Shawn looked down at his watch and saw it was quite late in the evening… Which could only mean one thing. "Shouldn't we be watching Raw? It's half over already."
Paul grabbed onto Shawn's arm and twisted it, in a way that couldn't possibly cause Shawn pain, to see the time. He was quite irritated when he saw that Shawn was right. Raw was half over. How could they have ignored the time for so long? He almost forgot about everything that happened earlier in the hallway, which is odd since the three had been arguing about it since they got to the locker room.
"Shit… He's right. Jay, turn the TV on," Jay did as Paul said, allowing Paul to look Shawn in the eyes. "Please don't go anywhere, Shawn. Let's just… Sit down and think things through. We don't know what's going to happen and I really don't want your condition to get worse." He stated. Just when Paul thought Shawn was going to agree and allow Paul to close the locker room door, Shawn threw his arms in the air and let out an angry yell. "Fuck my condition, Paul," Shawn paused to grab Paul by his shoulders and shake him back and forth. "We have more important matters at hand right now. Shane shouldn't have to give up his career to save us!"
Paul ran his hands down his face to try and calm himself down. "I understand that, Shawn… I fucking understand it more than you could ever know. I don't understand why you won't calm down long enough for us to come up with some kind of battle plan for this situation. You, me and Jay are in this together as of right now. We're gonna figure out a way to get Shane out of this mess. So sit down and calm your fucking nerves!" Paul shouted. Shawn stared at him wide eyed, quite taken aback by his absolute bluntness and loud tone. He nodded his head and sat down on the floor next to Jay. Paul shut the door and turned to look at the other two men.
"What do you have in mind, Paul," Christian asked as he watched the slightly older man pace back and forth. "Does it look like anything major happened," Paul asked, gesturing to the TV as he did so. Christian nodded his head no. "Nope. Not a damn thing of importance… Except for a few matches. Seems like we didn't miss Vince's big shebang." Christian replied and smirked, making Paul nod his head and continue pacing. "Knowing Vince, he's gonna wait til the end of the show… Which will leave us with no time to try and help Shane out of whatever mess he's gotten himself into…"
Paul's voice trailed off as he looked down at the extremely serious look on Shawn's face. He had to admit, Shawn was taking the situation rather harshly, but there was nothing they could really do about it. They didn't have time to try and talk Shane out of trying to save their jobs. He was stubborn…
And so was Shawn.
Shawn sighed for what seemed to be the 50th time that night. The heartache and unfairness of reality never seemed to end. He looked up at the TV with extremely disinterested eyes; not really caring about what he was watching.
That was when his vision went black.
It was 1999. Shawn was talking to the members of the 'new' D-Generation X: Road Dogg Jesse James, Billy Gunn, X-Pac, Chyna and Triple H. He knew he had to leave the arena to pick up good ol' Stone Cold Steve Austin… The special gift he promised Vince McMahon when he pretty much told him to go fuck himself earlier in the night. Vince was crazy to think Shawn would be so quick to give up the role of Commissioner. The big bad Vincent Kennedy McMahon couldn't even take his job away.
He was Superman.
D-X escorted Shawn to the parking lot and took their time saying goodbye. Shawn walked out of the building and attempted to unlock the car with the keys Paul had given him… But they didn't seem to work. He walked back to the door and started knocking on it, calling out to Paul to try and ask him. When there was no answer, he kept his fist against the door and lowered his head.
Vince found his kryptonite.
That's when the voices of the Corporation started taunting him from behind. Big Boss Man was the first to lunge at him. The rest of them grabbed a hold of him and allowed the much bigger man to kick him, punch him and flat out pound his ass into the cement.
The next thing he knew, he was hurled into a car and broke the window of the driver's door with his arm. His rental was going to need repairs, but it was nothing he couldn't afford. 'This is going to be fun to explain to the car rental agency… Yeah, I got beat up at work. That'll do. I'm sure they never heard that story before…' Shawn remembered thinking. Big Boss Man grabbed a hold of Shawn and picked him up, then threw him face first into the windshield.
Everything went black again.
"Shawn?"
Shawn blinked his eyes and looked up at Paul. "What," He asked, making Paul smirk oddly at him. "Nothing… You just looked a little funny… Like you zoned out or something. I was just checking to make sure you were okay." Paul replied. Shawn looked down at the floor and considered his options. Paul could help him with the flashback… Or he could stare at him like he was stupid. "It was… A flashback, I think."
Paul smiled. "Really? I'm glad to know you're still taking your meds… Now… Do you mind telling me what it was about?" Paul asked. Shawn nodded his head no. "I guess not… It started off with you, me and the other members of D-X hanging out backstage. I went out into the parking lot and was attacked by the Corporation. I was on my way to pick up Stone Cold, I think… And it was really cold out, so I'd wager it was early 1999." Shawn stated.
Paul's eyes widened in a surprisingly pleasant shock. "I remember that night quite well, actually. It was January 4, 1999. You were on your way to get Stone Cold Steve Austin so you could get back at Vince for trying to fire you from your role as Commissioner. I really hated the whole betrayal thing, but you were obviously hurting and you needed some serious help. When the medics came and pulled you off the car, Earl Hebner had to be there to calm you down because you were just… Far gone with pain… I'm glad you decided to talk to me about it." Paul smiled as he patted Shawn's shoulder.
Shawn returned the smile and looked up at the TV again. The show was nearing its end. How long was I dealing with that godforsaken flashback?
Shawn's question was answered when he saw Tyson Tomko literally kicking Shane McMahon down the ramp towards the ring. Shawn narrowed his eyes angrily and tried to stand up, but Paul grabbed hold of him and held him down to the best of his ability. "Jesus Christ, Paul! Let me go! He's gonna fucking kill him!" Shawn shouted as he squirmed in Paul's arms. Christian watched in horror as Tomko threw Shane in the ring and dug around under the mat for two chairs, a set of handcuffs and a garbage can lid. He threw them in the ring and slid in, wasting no time in beating Shane into a corner.
"This is absolutely ridiculous." Christian didn't realize he opened his mouth until he saw Paul and Shawn looking at him. "I agree… Let me go! We have to help him!" Shawn shouted and continued squirming.
"I hope you're watching, D-X," Shawn stopped squirming altogether and looked back at the TV. Vince was making his way down the ramp towards the ring with a large smile on his face. "Keep in mind this is happening because of you. Tyson Tomko has vowed not to stop until Shane decides to agree to my little deal… That being he cuts all ties with D-Generation X and agrees to work solely with and for me. No more cutesy Shane O Mac that all of you love to cheer for." Vince smirked at the amount of jeering he was getting from the crowd. He loved to make them hate him.
Paul was so shocked at what Vince had said; he made the mistake of letting go of Shawn. The older man wasted no time jumping up and running out of the room. "Fuck!" Paul shouted as he stood up and chased after him. Christian stood up and continued watching Tyson pound on Shane. "Is this what things have come down to..?"
Shawn continued running towards the curtains. He heard the crowd jeering. Things were getting ugly out there. He sneaked a quick peek at a monitor whenever he could. Tomko had just smacked Shane in the face with the garbage can lid. The kid's eyes were already glassy. His movements were slow, even for somebody who was being kicked around. Shawn ran as fast as he could until he made it through the curtains. He stopped short when he saw Vince notice him.
"Look who it is!" Vince pointed in Shawn's direction, making Tyson look over at him. He was holding Shane up by his hair. Shawn's face was turning different colors to match his anger level. Paul ran out from behind the curtain and stood next to Shawn… He was smart enough to grab a microphone on the way out. "Listen here, McMahon… We only want one thing here. We want you to tell Tomko to back away from Shane. Come on… You know damn well that kid means a lot to us. Stop hurting him." Paul was begging to the point where even Shawn was surprised.
Vince looked like he was going to consider what Paul had to say… But once again that evil smirk came across his face. "Tomko… Show D-X exactly what they can do with their pleading." Vince looked back at Tomko and watched as he handcuffed Shane's hands behind his back. Tomko grabbed a hold of Shane and power bombed him. He looked up the ramp at D-X and saw Paul was literally holding Shawn back. He had never seen the smaller man so angry before.
Felt good knowing he was the one to make him that angry, though.
Tomko bent down to pick up the chairs and left one on the mat. He grabbed a hold of Shane and maneuvered him so that his head was resting on it. Tomko steadied himself and held the chair high above his head.
Shawn saw the all too familiar signs of the conchairto and panicked, squirming even more in Paul's arms. "No! Get the fuck off of me! Tomko is going to knock Shane into last year! We have to stop this! It's wrong! We can't let him take the hit…" Shawn's voice trailed off as the second chair made contact with Shane's skull.
Vince put on that stupid face he made when he was attempting to portray mock-horror. He slid into the ring and waited for Tomko to sit Shane up and hold him up. Somehow he was conscious enough to keep his head held high. Vince knelt down and positioned himself so D-X could see his ugly mug, as well as Shane's bloodied face and the disgusting Tyson Tomko. "So… Shane… What do you say? Ready to get rid of D-X and align yourself with me? You know that I'm the right path to choose, don't you? Come on, now. Don't look at me like that. Are you going to take my side over theirs?"
Vince shoved the microphone in Shane's face and waited impatiently for him to answer. Shane used what little consciousness he had left to consider his options. Maybe he would be able to stop Vince from attacking D-X… But having a McMahon on your side is always valuable.
A light bulb went off in his clouded mind.
"Yes…" He mumbled and let his head drop to the side as he faked losing consciousness. He was always so good at it in the past.
Vince jumped up in what could only be described as ridiculously over-excited happiness and jumped around. Tomko watched him with narrowed eyes, then looked up the ramp at D-X. Shawn had stopped struggling against Paul. Both members of D-X were staring at Shane in shock. Paul moved his head closer to Shawn's. "He has something up his sleeve."
A/N: It's been awhile since I last updated, hasn't it? I've been working on this chapter for almost a month now. I have no idea why but I got a severe case of writer's block. I was discussing possible outcomes with my friend Katie and decided on the ending with her. It sure helps to have somebody to talk to when you're stuck on something, even though she's not too familiar with this story…
I realized I changed the spelling to 'conchairto' in this chapter. I'm gonna go back in the other ones and fix it as well. Ya know, as soon as I stop procrastinating so hard.
I can't decide when I'm going to end this story… I know what I'm going to have happen, though. I've only been planning it for 3 years.
Take care and wish your dads/husbands/whomever a Happy Father's Day from OctoberAshes!